Bill Stimson, Marketing Director at Euro Car Parts, said: “Some of us can spend upwards of two hours a day in our cars, travelling to work, school or running errands meaning dirt can easily build up unnoticed - sometimes we have no choice but to eat in the car and our children and pets aren’t always the tidiest.

"Our experiment showed that ‘dirt’ doesn’t always have to be visible to be harmful, so it’s worth having a cleaning routine for your car to keep on top of it.”

Some cars manufactured overseas are made with anti-contamination properties built into their materials, eliminating the risk of bacteria inside your vehicle.

But most models made in the UK and Europe are yet to adopt the technology.